Writing Resources: 2 February 2013

Here you will find a selection of the best of the blogsphere from the past week. Grab your coffee, straighten the glasses or spritz those contacts and above all – enjoy.

Inform & Inspire

Angela Ackerman: Success: Is it Happening to You Only You Don’t Realize It? Excerpt: “The truth is, there are many indicators of EMERGING success, not just these biggies. They are smaller, more subtle. Many of us don’t realize what they mean when they happen. Here’s seven you might recognize…”

Kait Nolan: Fear of Suckage and Dreaming Big. Is fear of sucking at something new keeping you from broadening your horizons? Find out how pressing through the fear of suckage can open the world up for your future.

Mhairi Simpson: The Value of a Support System. We Are Not Alone, you shouldn’t be either *smile*

Chuck Wendig: Yes, Virginia, You can be a Paid Writer, Too. A pep talk and overview of professional writing, Wendig-style.

Andy Traub: 6 Steps to Successfully Launching a Dream. Excerpt: “There’s a profound impatience for those of us who are building our own platforms. We want what we want — and we want it now. But we sometimes fail to see what it takes to see a dream through to the end.”

Author Platform

Jami Gold: Branding 101: Who Do You Want to Be? What factors and choices guide how you build your personal brand? Thoughtful post, highly recommended read.

Social Media

Kristen Lamb: Feeling Overwhelmed? Social Media can make us Crazy. Learn about RDD and how it impacts your social media health.

Jonathan Gunson: 3 Great Ways to Find Readers for Your Books on Twitter. Excellent search and find strategy here – Must Read for Writers using Twitter. Also from Jonathan: The One Thing an Author Should Never Do on Social Media. Great essay about using the “social” part of social media effectively.

Gene Lempp: 5 Twitter Top Tips. Excerpt: “Twitter, especially for a new user, can be overwhelming. Followers appear from the strangest places (I have 40+ German hotels and resorts following me). Trying to communicate in the cacophony of chirping is reminiscent of attempting conversation in an overactive aviary.”

Rafe Needleman (CNET): Newbie’s Guide to Twitter. Excellent starter kit for all those that fear the little blue bird but would love to give it a try.

Michael K. Rose: 101 Thoughts on Self-Publishing: Get Active on Social Media. This is a sweet little post that goes over using Twitter and Facebook in combination. Well worth the look.

Blogging Resource

Photo Pin : All I can say on this one is, “Wow!” Awesome resource.

Indie Publishing

Dean Wesley Smith: Think Like a Publisher: Projected Income. Dean is updating this series for 2013 with new information and insights. Best read for indies and self-pubbers.

Publishing Perspectives: The Why, What, Who, and How of Metadata: 13 Tips for Publishers. Metadata is a key factor in discoverability – road signs leading prospective readers (buyers) to you and your products. Understanding how to use this powerful and oft misunderstood tool is essential for modern authors.

Susan Spann: Timelines in the Author Business Plan. Not sure how to make it all work together; writing, editing, publishing, etc.? Great tips await you here.

Book Formatting

Joel Friedlander: Getting Started with Microsoft Word Styles for Book Layout. Excellent overview with plenty of visual examples.

Publishing

Porter Anderson: Ebook Prices at Rock Bottom. Ebooks for 1p (U.K. one pence) – how will this affect the market? Porter takes an in-depth look at this growing trend.

Ava Jae: How to Survive the Waiting Game. Patience is difficult when our word babies are out in the wilds – here are some great survival tips for the anxious writer parent.

Helmut von Berg: Why Publishing of the Future is “Networked Publishing.” This post is a detailed explanation of current publishing models, traditional and non-traditional, and the direction now on the horizon. Includes excellent illustrations to increase understanding.

Elizabeth Craig: So You Want to Read Your Reviews. How to handle feedback in a healthy manner.

Enemies of the Art

Kristen Lamb: If you’ve missed this amazing series, here are the latest installments. A must read, packed with useful advice, examples and a dose of tough love we all need to press towards our dreams.

Enemies of the Art, Part 3 – F.E.A.R // Enemies of the Art, Part 4 – Pride

Enemies of the Art, Part 5 – Fatigue

On Writing

Jami Gold: Authors vs. Characters: Can Our Morals be Different? Excerpt: “Too often, we see authors judged by the characters they write or the stories they choose to tell. I used to hope that social media, with the ability to interact directly with readers, would bring an end to misconceptions. But I now know it’s not a cure-all to banishing every type of assumption, as I learned last summer…”

Marcy Kennedy: Four Techniques to Show Rather than Tell. This post is a heaping bowl of writing awesomesauce!

Elizabeth Craig: Time Saving Tip when Writing Series. Explore the power of style sheets.

K.M. Weiland: Options for Reactions in a Sequel. Excerpt: “Although the sequel possesses three basic and unavoidable parts, just like the scene, it is much more flexible in execution. The three parts may take place within a single sentence—or be stretched out over many chapters.” Also from K.M.: Signs You’ve Chosen the Wrong Protagonist.

Ava Jae: Don’t Worry About Other Writers Stealing Your Ideas. No two people will interpret the same thing in the same manner. If this is a concern for you, go read this post.

TheScriptLab: Scene Questionnaire. Fifty questions to assist drawing out the essential elements of scenes in compelling ways. Love ScriptLab – lots of resources on this site.

Gabriela Pereira: Defining KidLit Categories. This is a great overview and breakdown of the various Kid Lit groupings, from Board Books to Teen.

Editing

Kristine Kathryn Rusch: Hiring Editors.  Top Read Recommendation! Here is a taste. Excerpt: “Writers believe that all editors are created equal. They also seem to believe that all editors are gods. Greek or Roman gods, gods of myth, gods who are spectacular one day and horrible the next.  Not Coyote, necessarily, but Athena one day and Ares a day later. One day brilliant, the next trying to start a war. Editors are none of those things.”

Janice Hardy: Three Ways to Add Tension During Revision. To the writing, not the writer *smile* Excellent well-presented tips!

Darcy Pattison: What and How to Revise. Great overview with plenty of useful examples.

Beta Readers

Lexi Ryan: Five Rules for Choosing and Using Beta Readers. Having beta readers is a must, yet finding the right fit is essential to making the experience beneficial. Great tips!

Marketing

Joel Friedlander: Book Design, Internet Marketing and the Nature of Human Consciousness. Excerpt: “Picture this: you pick up a book and open it, only to discover that every page is exactly the same, a tall rectangle of text extending close the edge of the page and without interruption. There are no spaces between paragraphs because there are no paragraphs, no chapters, no page numbers, no running heads, just text. Does it sound appealing? No, not to me, either.”

Joanna Penn: How Ebook Readers Shop and the Importance of Sampling. Excerpt: “An author at a conference recently asked me for tips on publishing on the Kindle and then said that he didn’t actually read books on digital devices. I was kind of gob-smacked because how else are you going to know if there are problems until you start getting 1 star reviews?”

Chuck Wendig: How Not to Ask for Blurbs. It’s Chuck, you need to read this one – short and poignant.

Marcy Flinchum Atkins: Mentor Texts: Market Your Book to Teachers. Good advice for understanding your target audience and how to connect with their needs.

Lindsay Buroker: How to Promote Your Books on Pinterest. Excerpt: “If you’re an author, you’re probably already getting social (and trying to sell your books) on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn, not to mention leaving comments on blogs and writing posts of your own. Pinterest is another place where you can establish a presence as an author and perhaps woo a few more people into checking out your work.”

Tech Tips

Nick Ruffilo: Tips for Technologists: Excel with Excel. Wonderful overview of using Excel to track data. Great read for all Excel users.

Exercise is not a Swear Word

Yin Yoga: Deep Stretching of the Bodies Connective Tissue. Thanks to Jenny Hansen for bringing this up on Facebook and Karen McFarland for find the link. If you like yoga, or have thought of trying it out, be sure to check out this site.

Laughter Saves the Soul

Cate Russell-Cole: Be AWESOME! with Kid President. If you haven’t seen this “high-tech” motivation YouTube, or just love the speaker, here is your chance.

Resource Heaven

MacroHistory & World Report: This entire site is a major resource spanning, as the site says: “From 4.3 million years ago” to the present. It includes a map directory, document index, full bibliography and charts on key periods and groups (such as, the Delian League). History and writer-types will find this site invaluable. Found by Mary Jo Gibson on StumbleUpon – thanks!

That’s all for this week. I’ll have a new post for Surviving Transitions coming out in a couple of days. Stay tuned *smile*

Peace.